Top Court Finalizes Fine on Unification Church Leader in Japan

   Tokyo, March 4 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court has upheld lower court rulings ordering the Unification Church's head in Japan to pay a fine of 100,000 yen for refusing to answer some questions posed by the culture ministry.
   The top court's First Petty Bench on Monday rejected an appeal filed by the religious group against the Tokyo district and high courts' rulings for the group's Japan head, Tomihiro Tanaka.
   The culture ministry has exercised its right to question the group seven times since November 2022. However, the group refused to answer some questions, claiming that the exercise of the right was illegal.
   The religious corporations law stipulates that a court can order a religious corporation to disband if the group is found to have engaged in acts that clearly violate laws and regulations and seriously harm public welfare, and allows the ministry to exercise the right if the group is suspected of engaging in such acts.
   The top court said that law violations mentioned by the law include violations of the Civil Code, which the ministry cited when filing for a court order to dissolve the religious group.

(2025/03/04-19:53)

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